Scythes and Canes
by QueenDarkcloud
Summary: This is an AU where Torchwick is a teenager (Yang's age which, is 17) and Neopolitan is a year younger. They are both orphans who have bonded together. Later, at Beacon Academy Roman meets a young innocent girl by the name of Ruby Rose. There are going to be other shippings involved so hang tight. Please feel free to criticize...
1. The Past Part One

Roman's POV

Roman felt the blood trickle down his face. Oh wonderful. He was going to have to clean up really well or be expecting another punch. The bullies of the orphanage would get a lecture about being nice if the caretakers saw the wound. Then they would always come back to beat him up. It was sad actually. No one cared for kids like him so you had to look out for yourself.

Right now though, I need a partner, not someone who will pity him, but someone who will listen and help when he needed it. An ally.. That's what he needed. All the boys were weaklings. No one would start a revolt. The only choice I have is to go over to the Girl's Encampment.

Roman climbed over the large fence. "Ouch, what the heck?" Why are there thorn bushes here? Roman clenched his teeth and rolled out of the thorn bed. Blood dripped everywhere and thorns were stuck in his pants and flesh…. But he had to keep moving… The headmasters might find him. When he looked up, there was a very tiny, petite girl standing in front of him.

Neo's POV

There's a boy and he is sitting in front of me. I wonder what he's doing here. He probably made some dare. Neo stepped forward to … maybe intimidate him. He stood up quickly. "Oh hello," he yelped. "My name is Torchwick, Roman Torchwick. I need some help and the idiots at the Boy's Camp aren't going to assist me in anything… So.. um what's your name?" Neo held up her hands, whoa slow your horsies. I wish I could talk, He looks suspicious.

Neo pulled out her - and then began to type with her fingers. My name is Neopolitan, as in the ice cream. People call me Neo as that is easy. I would love to help you with your... endeavor but I get bullied myself.

"Oh that's fine. I just need backup. Tell you what." Roman said. "You help me with my bully problem and I'll help you with yours. Deal?"

She thought about it, with her finger hovering over the keyboard. If she did this, she would not only get some help.. but she had a feeling she would have a long-lasting friendship as well.

Yes I'll do it.

"Great," Roman smiled. "Then we better hatch a plan."

Roman's POV

Even though Neo can't talk she is the best partner that anyone could ask for. Not only is she silent but understands the nature of things and will go along with a good plan,not something that will fail in the midst of crap. We were up all night working out a plan that wouldn't fail. She and I made so many changes in the plan and it was fun. We had to make a plan that wouldn't get us in trouble but would get all the bullies in plenty of trouble. While I spoke, she listened and the only sound was her fingers tapping the keyboard and my breath. When we were all finished, she showed me a way that led from the Girl's Encampment to the Boy's Camp without all the thorns. Tomorrow we execute the plan, hopefully it'll work.

Neo's POV

I hope this guy knows what he is doing, Neo thought. I've had enough problems and I don't need more. Once again, it was night, Neo waited near the place where Torchwick was hiding. Then she was bait. Six tall, overpowered boys came around the corner. One of them looked in her direction. He gestured to the others and they started slinking over…. Snakes, she thought. She then smiled at the bullies, turned and ran. They grinned, very foolishly, and started to give chase.


	2. The Past Part Two

Third Person's POV

"You two have been a thorn in my side since I met you. I - I have had it up to here." The headmistress had Neo and Roman together. They had been caught several times and the caretakers attempted to separate them, but all attempts had failed. They were like siblings. "I am sending you and several other students to Signal Academy. Hopefully they can get you to do something worthwhile and teach you to work with other people other than yourselfs." She looked around the room, "What do you have to say to that?"

Roman smirked, "What any other person has to say," he paused, "Thank you." She looked startled at this response, but recovered.

"Roman, Neo this is a new beginning for you, please take this opportunity to embrace it."

Roman's POV

"Well, that was fun," Roman smirked, "I didn't think it would go as well as that." Neo punched him in the shoulder. His grin just grew wider. "See you later Neo." Roman walked towards his room. Those bullies now feared him. They knew he would go to any length to save himself. They didn't bother others when he was around, and he loved it. Roman just had to flash a predatory smile and most people would walk the other way. Roman began to pack his clothes and few items he had.

~An Amazing Time Skip brought to you by yours truly~

"We're here Neo," Roman said. "That was a humongously boring ride. A complete waste of time!" Neo glared at Roman with lethal precision. "Okay, okay, I understand you want this."

They began to walk through the schoolyard. There were flowers and pedestals all over the place. An oversized statue was in the way of the academy entrance. A small blond girl, suddenly darted around them with her friends. Roman scowled, whilst Neo just shook her head.

A voice radiated from an overhead speaker, "Classes start tomorrow please take your items to your advising counselman. Thank you for your participation."

Neo and Roman were assigned to Professor Windown. (Yes, I know that sounds terrible. I'm sorry.)

~Time Skip, Yes I'm lazy~

Neopolitan, Rank 1 and Roman Torchwick, Rank 27

"Both of you students have done tremendously well. Even though you aren't sure what you want to do in the future, my recommendation. I would suggest you check out Beacon Academy." Professor IHaveNoIdea said softly.

"Thank you sir," Roman said with a flourish. "We will look into it." The man smiled softly and dismissed them. As Neo and Roman walked out, they looked around at the surroundings. "We've graduated, so what do you want to do?" Roman said. Neo looked away. "What's up?"

She looked directly into his eyes, her finger tapped her scroll fast and furiously. _I want to go to Beacon._


	3. Teammates

**Before a lot of you do crazy on me, I have to say my piece. Someone said they wanted longer chapters. SO this is my pitiful attempt at granting that request.**

I will never go back to that place ever again.

Neos POV

 _Doo dodododo Yea onto Beacon we go, Onto Beacon we go,_ Neo sang in her head. She packed her clothes. Roman suddenly appeared in the doorway. She turned around with a bright smile on her face.

"How do you know we'll even make it into Beacon?" Roman asked.

Neo grabbed her scroll, _Of course we'll make it. We're a team. Don't let doubt cloud your judgement. And if I or you don't make it, then we'll find something else to do with our lives. THAT'S THAT._

Roman smiled and spoke softly, "Thanks Neo, goodnight." He then strolled out the door. As they had graduated, they could only stay there for a few days to get their bearings then move on. It wasn't a plausible solution to not be accepted into Beacon. Neo knew this. As Roman was only Rank 27 he might not have enough transcript rank to make it. Not that he couldn't Rank 1, it was that he was too lazy to try to make it to a number one rank in something. Neo smiled as she remembered the day that they had announced to her that she had made Rank 1 in hand-to-hand combat with other students. Every student had learned to respect her. The teachers were cool too, apart from a drunk guy that seemed to wander the halls doing nothing. _I can't seem to remember to his name,_ Neo thought, _he was unimportant anyways._ ( **If only you knew Neo**.)

Neo was rifling through her items that she was going to throw away, when she saw a toy. It was a doll with blond hair and a pink dress. Not overly pink, but like the shade of pink that was in her hair. A very long time ago, someone gave this to her. Someone very special. ( **HEHE I'm not revealing anything** ) She smiled at the memory.

Third Person's View

Morning came and with that, Acceptance Letters. Will I get one, was the thought running through everyone's mind. Some kids had started crying, four years of school from age 13, only to find that you wouldn't get to go to the school wanted. That was pitiful and sad.

Neo's POV

Neo was running down the hall. _I have got to be accepted, I have got to be accepted,_ were the words that pounded through her head. And the smallest voice whispered, _and so does Roman._

Teach Gabriel, as everyone called him, was handing out letters of good news and bad news, she skidded to a stop in front of him. His eyes were teasing as in, you usually are a little more elegant than that, but he didn't say anything. He was very kind and taught her the art of signaling. She quickly signed to him, _Anything for me or Roman?_

"Now, is there?" his eyes were even more teasing. "I don't know."

 _There is, isn't there?_ She glowed, with happiness. He handed her two letters both from Beacon Academy.

Roman's POV

Like Neo, Roman had packed his items in the night, but unlike Neo he did not have the energy to deal with Acceptance Letters. So, there he was all dressed, still sitting in bed. In Signal Academy, there wasn't girls and boys it was all students and if you were found doing anything to your fellow students. Your transcript would not only state what had happened in excruciating detail, but you would also be punished and kicked out. No one wanted to deal with that, so there were no bullies in Signal or bullies that were ever caught. "I don't think I'll make it. I don't want to be a hero." Roman said softly.

Neo opened the door slowly, with a frown on her face. Roman looked up, "Did you make it?" She nodded. "That's great news. Did … I make it?" She held his eyes for the longest time. He began to frown. She smiled and thrust her hand out in front of her. In her hand, there was a letter, marked to Roman Torchwick. He opened it with a slow, methodical motion. He pulled the paper out and read it slowly.

Dear Roman,

The Beacon Academy Board has approved your admission as a student to Beacon Academy. We are proud that you are going to become a Hunter through our academy.

You will be given a date to appear at the Vale Intercontinental Transit Center to be transported to our academy.

Congratulations on making it this far.

Sincerely, Professor Ozpin

 **APPROVED FOR ADMISSION TO BEACON HUNTSMEN ACADEMY**

As Roman looked at the letter, he noticed the official seal of Beacon Academy. Like it had carved it into stone. This is what he was going to do with is life. And Roman wasn't quite sure if this was what he really wanted to do. But Neo was happy and for now, so was he.

Ruby's POV (FINALLY!)

Ruby giggled with excitement as she received her letter of acceptance. Yang had already left and didn't know that Ruby would be soon joining her.

Dear Ruby,

The Beacon Academy Board has approved your admission as a student to Beacon Academy. We are proud that you are going to become a Hunteress through our academy.

You will be given a date to appear at the Vale Intercontinental Transit Center to be transported to our academy.

Congratulations on making it this far.

Sincerely, Professor Ozpin

 **APPROVED FOR ADMISSION TO BEACON HUNTSMEN ACADEMY**

She sighed with the relief, this is it! This is what she always wanted. Not wanting to be the princess in distress, but the hero who didn't always leave a trace but always left a mark, on society and on the enemies, that would try to ruin that society. She smiled and made her way to the Transit Center.

~~Alrighty now. MAJOR Time Skip~~ ( **Mainly, because the bus ride to school is even more boring than the destination MEH** )

Roman's POV

 _This is brilliant, this is truly brilliant._ Roman thought. _Why, why, why?_ Oh, look there's a bird. _What is my life? What is the meaning of it all? The great Roman Torchwick has outdone himself. Yes siree. I am flying through the air at a rate of, I don't even know. What have I gotten myself into?!_

Roman was in the air. Why? Freaking initiation, that's why. WHYYY? As he was being thrown in midair Roman barely had enough time to see a tree, he launched the hook-end of Melodic Cudgel at the tree hooking it around it. His body slammed into the tree trunk but held on to his cane, but his hat fell off. Great. Using his cane, he lowered himself to the ground. He then easily found his hat. Brushing it off Roman looked around, lots of trees. Suddenly *boom* a flash of yellow soared above him, with lots of explosions. "Okay," he said out loud, "Now to find Neo."

Neopolitan's POV

Neo lifted her umbrella into the air (it wasn't open) and the moment the launch pad opened, she sprung with the pad and fell with the air. Then she opened her umbrella and began to float. Yea. _Wait what!?_ There was a pack of Grimm beneath her. _Oh crap, that is a lot of Grimm._

Neo landed in a field of Grimm and was immediately surrounded. _Greeeeeat!_ In combat school Neo was always able to beat the other students, but at fighting Grimm she was crap. Probably because of the weapon design. An umbrella with a stabby thing in it, without a gun, is practically useless against them.

She landed in the clearing and pulled her umbrella around herself to prepare to fight. Neo smirked and was about to activate her semblance when a knife soared through the air destroying a Grimm. It was connected to a rope of some sort and arced grappling onto several other Grimm. Two people came out of the woods. A male with gray hair; grey, blue and black jacket; and perhaps a sash tied to his waist. He had shotgun boots as a weapon. Quite effectively he fought the beasts. A girl with dark skin, green hair and pistols with whatever lunge lines those were. She fought with even more effectiveness against the Grimm.

After they cleared the area, they turned to her. Neo bowed to them. "Oh Hello," the green-haired girl said. "My name is Emerald and this is Mercury. Are you okay?"

Neo hooked her umbrella onto her belt and then pulled out her scroll. The pair looked very confused. Neo wrote, _I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am mute. My name is Neopolitan but you can call me Neo._ Mercury had a sneer on his face and Emerald was looking apologetic. _Please do not concern yourself about me. My partner should be here any time soon._

Almost as soon as she pressed enter, Roman walked through the nearby brush.

Roman's POV

"Hello Neo, who are these people?" Roman said smoothly.

She signed, _Mercury and Emerald, they saved my life._

"Alrighty then," he said smiling, but then noticing something black connected to Mercury's belt. "Do you happen to know where the relics are?"

Emerald stepped forward and then Mercury put his hand on her chest. It looked like they were having a convers.. argument. Then with Mercury looking all grumpy, Emerald came closer, "The relics are over here, let us show you."

Neo happily stepped in time with Emerald. Roman and Mercury glared at each other for a minute then Roman smiled and said, "After you my dear sir." He growled and stomped off into the forest after the girls. Roman trailed behind listening to any possible danger.

There was a large platform (that looked positively ancient) and towers that were broken. A bunch of old tabletops and chess pieces were atop of them. "Yes, okay the relics." He went and picked up the black rook. "Hmm, the rook?" He looked at Neo.

Neo signed, _Sure, that looks great._ Mercury and Emerald turned to leave when a large Death Stalker appeared.

Roman fired a shot at the humongous Grimm. It seemed to only irritate the darn thing and turned around to face him, but he was already gone. Roman reappeared at Neo's side. "Well I don't know about you but I am not sure we can beat this thing."

Neo signed, We _might be able to beat it if we all fought it at once._

Emerald was shooting the beast with both of her pistols. "I don't think my semblance will work on him," she said to Mercury. He grunted in response.

"Emerald," Roman said. "I noticed you basically have ropes attached to your knives, would you be so kind to hook its gigantic stinger."

Mercury looked as if he was about to say something when Emerald stepped forward examining the creature as if she were to hook it. Roman looked at her and said, "Do not worry Mercury, Neo and I will be here to help you." Emerald ran straight at it and it was about to land its pincers down on top of it when Roman blasted it in its many eyes. Emerald leaped up and hooked both knives around it and jumped off. Roman pointed to a tree and she went around it using it as an anchor. The beast screamed its fury and tried pulling, but ending up hurting itself even more. Mercury took the opportunity to blat away where the stinger and the tail meet. Roman eyed the creature and ran at it. He signaled to Neo to do the same. She leaped on top of it and using her weapon she stabbed into its eyes. It made a wild, guttural sound of pain. It jerked backwards and Emerald was dragged. She unhooked her weapons from the stinger and the stinger fell on top of the beast, stabbing him further. The creature cried out and collapsed.

Panting, Emerald said, "We did it."

Neo signed _, Yes we did._

Mercury said begrudgingly, "I like your sword in the umbrella trick."

Neo smiled and signed back, _You weren't bad yourself._

And Roman just smiled.

( **Time SKIP** ) **Because the story wouldn't be a story without one or a hundred of those.**

"Roman Torchwick, Mercury Black, Neopolitan, and Emerald Sustrai; you collected the black rook pieces. From this day forward you will be known as Team Remain (REMN), led by Roman Torchwick," Ozpin finished with a final breath.

Roman smirked, "That was to be suspected."

Mercury growled with a sneer, "Lead on leader."

Emerald sighed and Neo rolled her eyes.


	4. First Contact

**I HAVE A LEGITIMATE EXCUSE FOR BEING LATE! Okay, so I knew I was really, really behind on writing and for those of you who follow me on a daily basis know I have been bookmarking all these different fanfics... I don't have a laptop, excuse 1. My mom has this kindle with a notes system on it and I was like, okay I'll use that." So I've got two chapters done on it and I'm feeling proud, k? Then I realized I needed to send it to Google Docs for some final editing. So I go to the library which has a neat Wi-Fi system that I was going to take advantage of. And then there is a 'send' to email button, I click it to send my crap-chapters(: to my email. Guess what? Amazon asks me for permission to ... GO ONTO MY EMAIL... (deep breaths) AND reorganize, delete and send emails. . . . . . NO, JUST NO. So I spent several weeks trying to find out what the heck I should do. A friend gave me a suggestion that has helped some but I need a laptop and a WiFi connection so until then... I am sorry. Just bare with me.**

 **Ruby 's POV**

After waking Weiss, the team and I cleaned the room and unpacked. Yay! I was having fun with everyone. I loved it. Then there was the situation with the beds. Hmm. After putting bunk beds to a vote (they always win, obviously), we then had to decide on... classes. I hate school. It seems like a waste of time when we can be doing fun things. But then were about to be late to school. So we had to hustle. Team JNPR, was also going to be late and ran beside us. I didn't want to have a bad impression with the professors, even if I don't like school.

 **Roman's POV**

I looked around trying to get a bearing on things. Emerald was huddled on her bed looking as if she was in deep thought. Mercury had left, who knows where, to presumably blow off some steam. Obviously he had been in a bad mood since the announcement that I had been chosen leader. Neo had gone to celebrate by herself.

 _I wish I was with her than trying to be a responsible leader_ , a treacherous part of me said. _Quiet you_ , growled Roman.

"Soo Emerald, how is it that you and Smoky Mountain got together?" I asked.

"..." Emerald looked as if she would rather be thrown off a cliff than tell me. She took a deep shuddering breath.

"No, no, if you don't want to tell me, then don't. We are to be a team. It is not to be forced." She gave me a small smile as if she wanted to believe me but didn't. "Now to find what's keeping, dear old Neo."

It was an hour before school started and Neo... oh no, Neo had found the ice cream stand.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug!" I saw a crowd around the ice cream stand. I pushed past several students and saw Neo, quite literally, eating loads of Ice cream. The first thought that entered my mind wasn't, oh how the heck did you get into this situation. No it was, _HOW MUCH MONEY DID THAT COST?!_ I cleared my throat, "...Neo?"

She looked up and had the audacity to smirk, "I'm not going to ask but when you're done, come get some school clothes on and come to class. Okay?" Looking slightly disappointed, she nodded. Probably wanted me to fall to her traps. Gah. I'll need to talk to her about spending money.

On my way back, I saw Mercury starting at the school's structure. Hmm, to approach or not? As tempting as the thought was to bother him, I decided to leave him alone. I made the decision to check out my first class early. It was Professor Port's class. Unsurprisingly, Emerald was there as well. I looked around for the professor and saw a well-rounded guy talking to a bunny faunus. After she was done, I walked up casually and asked if he was the renowned Professor Port.

"Hoh, that I am."

"Wonderful," I smiled, "and can you give me a summary of what you teach in class?"

"Hoh, Hoh, won't you learn that in class?"

I responded, like the pro I was, "I like knowing information before-hand; like how a class in Beacon works."

"Brilliant!" And without question, Professor Port began to explain, "In regards to your question, I teach the moral ethics of a huntsmen, what people see when they see us. I teach how a huntsmen is to act. As well as some examples."

"Ah, I see." I said calmly. I had accomplished what I had wanted to. "Well thank you for your words. Class is about to start." I wanted to make an impression that I was an earnest student who was willing to learn. That will come in handy later. Just as I sat down, two teams ran through the door as the clock hit 9:00am. _They accept students like this_ , my mind guffawed. I looked around to see that Neo had made it and had sat at the top of the benches. She liked to be overhead everyone.

The professor was boring and a bit flirtatious with the female students. He only talked of himself, but had some great morals at the end.

I stretched as Professor Port said, "... a true huntsmen must be honorable; a true huntsmen must be dependable; a true huntsmen must be strategic, well-educated, and wise. Who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

In a rather aggressive tone, a girl with white hair said, "I do, sir!"

The professor said, "Well step forward and face your opponent." After allowing the girl to change into her battle garments, Professor Port used his axe to open the cage to a Boarbatusk. Somewhere in my mind I remembered that she was Weiss Schnee, infamous heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.

 _This should be interesting_ , I thought, more awake than I had been 10 minutes before. Her team started cheering for her one by one, but it seemed as if she had a grudge against the leader, Ruby, as she continuously was distracted by the leader's good advice. At one point in the battle, Weiss turned around and yelled, "Stop telling me what to do!" The leader looked crushed, and now that I'm looking, this Ruby leader looks only 14 or 15. I pitied this Ruby leader, especially since Weiss seemed to have a personal vendetta against her.

When I looked back, the fight was over and Weiss stomped off. _Spoiled_ , I mused. Ruby followed her out. I suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom and ran out.

After relieving myself, I heard someone say, "That didn't seem to very well." I realized it was the headmaster, Ozpin and Ruby.

She looked up at Ozpin, innocently and said, "Was she right, did you make a mistake?"

He smiled gently, "That remains to be seen."

Cautiously Ruby eyed him, "What do you mean?" That is so adorable.

Ozpin responded, "Ruby, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child, but at this moment I don't consider your appointment to leader as one of them. Do you?"

He continued,"Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle. It's about badge you wear constantly. If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you." She smiled at this. "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby," he said as he turned away, "I think you should take some time to see how you will uphold it."

She turned and ran right into me. Her eyes widened, "Did you hear that?"

 _Ohnoivebeencaughtwhatdoidoohnoivebeencaughtwhatdoidoohnoivebeencaughtwhatdoidohnoivebeencaughtwhatdoido_ , ran in a loop in my mind.

"Um, I heard some of it. It's some good things to uhh live.. lead by." For once Roman was at a loss for words. Why, only when he planned to be caught did his words flow. In this moment he had not planned to be caught so... "So I'll uhh see ya round." And I skipped out of there. When I made it back to my room Neo was reading a book; Mercury seemed to be brooding, as always; and Emerald was nowhere to be seen.

"Neo, where did you go to after class?" I asked primarily to start a conversation.

She pulled out her scroll and typed, 'I stayed after class and watched some of the other students.

 _That's my girl_ , I thought.

'Then,' she continued, 'when I did leave I saw something VERY interesting.'

"Oh?" I questioned. Mercury glanced over at us.

'Weiss Schnee was in a big huff and went to talk to Professor Port about becoming team leader of RWBY. He gave her the talk we all want to give her about her attitude. Plus being the best member you can be without being a leader.'

"That's fascinating," I said pleased with this newfound information, "Thank you, Neo." She smiled a your welcome.

 **Ruby's POV**

I took Professor Ozpin's advice and began working on my schoolwork. I wanted to be the best at being studious. I thought back to the Orange-haired kid. He looked quite capable of fighting. He also seemed to be a bit, not shy, but suspiciously sneaky. Maybe he was nervous that I caught him. Perhaps if I learned more about him, it wouldn't be so weird. I think I saw him during the initiation, on the cliff somewhere. Perhaps, he sort of looked like that criminal I stopped, Romance or something.

He was rather cute when he was flustered.


	5. Times Were Tough Then

_**Guys I really am so happy that you continue to follow this story. Almost 2000 views on this site alone... Thank you. I had lost my motivation and then I saw that. Thanks so much.**_

 **Mercury's POV**

There was no way I would accept that smug, devil-eyed thief as leader of this half dead team. He and his muted, freak pet of his can go and... Suddenly something touched his arm. It was Emerald staring at him. He could remember clearly the day they met. "What do you want Emerald?" I asked a bit more harshly than intended.

"I..uh, am glad to be your partner, but I don't want people to think that w-we can't work ... with others."

Ah, so stop being so cold. Gah who does she think I am? "...," I stared with sullen silence. But for her...

"So I..uh was wondering," Emerald fidgeted nervously, "May I tell them our story?"

With an icy tone, I asked, "Do you want to tell them?" I knew the answer though.

She looked steadily at him, "Yes I want to tell them." There was nothing else to say so I pushed myself off to go and touching his arm, she said, "I want you to be here."

I glanced back and let out a sigh, "Alright then."

 **Emerald's POV**

I can't believe he gave up that easy. I can't believe it at all. Maybe he's tired. I don't really believe it. But he did and I have to figure out what to say.

Roman was going over some notes, whether from class or spying on other students I didn't know, and Neo was grinning like a Siamese cat watching a video she took off some students making fun of each other. Apparently she had a thing for blackmail. Yeah, if you feel a presence it's probably her. Just don't do anything you don't want anyone to know about outside the dorms.

I cleared my throat. They both looked up. "What's up you two?" Roman said. He had the knowing look that he always had. ALWAYS. It irritated the heck out of Mercury.

"This team won't become anything without effort," I began.

"True but, you're the one making plenty of effort, Emerald." Roman nodded. Mercury's face scowled... He really didn't like Roman. I mean if you haven't caught that by now.

"Thank you," I smiled at those words, "I want you guys to be able to trust us. After all we will be teammates for four years." Mercury snorted at this. "So we have both agreed to share our story with you."

"Neo and I will share ours when you're finished," Roman stated calmly.

"Okay," I took a deep breath. "We met when we were about 14. I lived on the streets stealing things to make a living." They didn't seem bothered by that fact at all. "I was really hungry one day, so hungry. I made a mistake. I stole from the one house I should have never stolen from. The Black residence. From what I remember there was silence. But... I was willing to chance it. Now I never broke into houses, way too much risk. I would wait for people to come out and steal their stuff when they weren't paying attention."

 ***Start Flashback***

He's so drunk. I can get it from him. He's so rich, he'll never know it's missing. I had trailed Mister Black for quite some time. He never even noticed. Or at least ... that's what I thought. I used my semblance to make it look as if I walked past him and grabbed at his wallet. To be honest, I was not feeling my best. Maybe the image was shaky, maybe it just wasn't believable. Whatever the reason, he turned and grabbed my hand holding it high in the air. I cried out in pain. "P-please sir, d-don't hurt me!" I yelped.

His eyes were cold stone grey, "You should've thought of that sooner."

I opened my mouth to scream and his hand covered it. He dragged me over to an alleyway to probably kill me. I kicked him right where it would hurt the most. He yelled and dropped me, I hit the ground running. I used my semblance to cover my retreat. I ran and ran until I was bone-tired. I made it to my shelter in an alleyway with some other kids. As long as you made an offering to the boss he let you stay. I stole quite a bit to stay there, but rarely was there anything left for me to eat. I was so hungry and tired I passed out.

When I woke up there was a kid my age sitting above me. "Er..ugh, who are you?" He peered over at me.

"Are you the one who tried to steal from my dad?" He said, not introducing himself.

"Depends," I said flinching at his words, "Who's your dad?"

"Black, does that sound familiar, sweetheart?"

"Oh no, if you found me then he'll find me." I was really starting to panic. I began to back away. Mercury looked onward, slightly amused at her predicament.

"Calm down," he said rolling his eyes, "I took care of that. I'm Mercury Black by the way. What's yours?" I realised that this guy may not be as bad as it seems. But it's always good to be careful. What if it was a trap? I thought for a moment to whether give him my name or not. And there was no harm. It was just a name right?

"My name is Emerald Sustrai."

"Well the rat has a name," Mercury said, "I've seen you hanging around my place for awhile. I should warn you it'll get you killed." He was literally laughing at this. I was about to give him my mind when he handed me some warm bread.

"Oh... My... gosh." I dug into it without another word. He just looked fascinated. He left. I was curious about this boy. This boy who helped her even though she had stole from him.

Kindness like that on the streets is rare. Very rare. So precious as well. Something to be protected. But only if it's true.

This was my new friend Mercury.

 ***End Flashback***

"We spent a lot of time together. He would bring me food and I would give him news of the street. I was a lot less hungry after that. I thought he was very strange and never fully trusted him. Oh course he didn't trust me either. One day...I didn't come to our chosen meeting place. Why? I had been caught on a group of thieves turf. You don't do that... Not at all. At the time I didn't know it was theirs."

 **Mercury's POV**

I shivered at her words. I could remember that day so well. I had been feeling slightly betrayed. I had waited for a bit, but she was NEVER late.

 ***Start Flashback***

I wandered back and forth on the terrace. Where was she? She was never this late. No matter how she was feeling. I don't really like thieves but that was a really good personality trait to have. Maybe she took off... That would be disappointing.

Just then, a kid came up to me. He was another street rat as well. "Who are you and what do you want?" I asked curtly.

He was very small, maybe 8 and very out of breath. "Do *huff huff* do you know Emerald? And are her friend?"

I narrowed my eyes, "What do you know of her?"

His eyes were panicked. "You h-have to come. She strayed too far into the Dark Knives territory. They are picking her apart."

I blinked, "Where?"

"T-to the south. Travel south and you will find her."

I turned and jumped off the terrace. I hit the ground running. I heard the sound of laughter before I saw it. There were five guys. All amateur thieves, probably. Backed against a wall, was a miserable stone cold Emerald. Her eyes said she was tired, they said she was scared but she kept a pretty good poker face anyways. It looked like they had beaten her till her aura was depleted. Blood was everywhere.

I leaped and fired from my shotgun boots giving me more height. I landed hard on the first guy's back. The others had turned and seen me and had backed away. Thankfully, I was the assassin's son. Yep I hope you didn't forget about that. I worked to see one coming from my back side and another was coming from my front. I flipped onto my hands and used both feet to kick at them. They were tossed backwards, one into a crate, the other into a brick wall. "M-mercury!"

I whirled to see someone throw a knife.. My eyes widened and I turned just in time so the knife hit the one other guy. Unfortunately, the guy who threw the knife had come up and stabbed him in the side, close to the guy. I kicked him and then fell over. He flew backwards, like the first two, but hit a metal bar that was there. Blood poured from the wound. Thankfully it seemed it had only gone in a little bit. I pulled my shirt off and wrapped it tightly around my waist. Then I looked up to see Emerald trying to stand. "Heya rat, thanks for the warning."

"Y-your side," she said staggering forward.

"Don't sweat it, I'm fine." I may have hated my father but he taught me how to survive with a wound. _A wound that he usually put on me,_ I thought bitterly. Emerald wasn't taught to survive like that, just steal and run. "You can barely stand though."

"I'll be fine in a day or two..." Emerald said. She nearly tripped and I caught her.

"Climb on my back," I gruffed out. She gave me the weirdest look, but my expression told her not to argue. She swung her body on his. I could feel her thin ribs. Even though I fed her, there just wasn't enough.

"Where are we going?" She asked, a yawn in her voice. "This isn't the direction to my home." She snuggled closer to him.

"I'm taking you somewhere you can rest."

"Oh," she mumbled, too tired to argue.

I carried her to my house. Even though that was dangerous, my father wouldn't be home anytime soon. There was a guest room that father never went into. She could stay they.

I went into the house. There were 2 servants, who were hush, hush about everything. They would stay quiet. Emerald was snoring softly. I went into the guest room carefully shuffled her off me onto the bed. I went into the bathroom and got hot cloths and put them on the stand next to her.

The next day I fed her and she thanked me and left.

 ***End Flashback***

"We became good friends after that," Emerald stated fondly. "He and I would raid places. He taught me to fight and I taught him the tricks and trades of the street."

"I have to say," Mercury mumbled, "There was more to learn than I thought there was."

Emerald gave a dry laugh, Roman looked amused, and Neo… Neo looked … bored.

Roman clapped his hands together, "Thank you for sharing that tidbit. Now I think it be our turn."


End file.
